UN officials call for probe into Senator Kakar’s death
ISLAMABAD: Four UN special rapporteurs on human rights have urged the government of Pakistan to investigate “the death in unclear circumstances of former senator Usman Kakar”, as well as his presence in an alleged “Kill List”.
In a joint letter written on Dec 27 last year, which was made public this week, the rapporteurs had urged the government to reply within 60 days. Failing this, they said, “this communication and any response received from the government will be made public and also made available in the report to the Human Rights Council”.
“On 17 June 2021, Usman Kakar, a member of the Pashtun minority, a former Senator and regional leader of the nationalist Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, was found in his house in Quetta, Balochistan, with blood flowing from a head injury. The cause of the head injury is unknown. However, there are concerns that he could have been attacked,” the letter said.
Mr Kakar had previously received death threats, and referred to them as coming from intelligence agencies in his final speech in parliament, the letter said.
The UN officials who signed the letter include Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; members of Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and Special Rapporteur on minority issues.
About the alleged “Kill List” the Special Rapporteurs said: “The list of at least ten individuals was published in a Facebook post by the former spokesperson of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).”
The TTP spokesperson, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had in a Facebook post in June/July, 2021, alleged that while in captivity he was given a list of about 10 people who were required to be eliminated for their “anti-state activities”.
The list, according to Ehsanullah Ehsan, included former senators Afrasiab Khattak and Farhatullah Babar, political activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Said Alam Mehsud, and Mufti Kifayatullah. Ehsanullah Ehsan also claimed that he had declined to carry out the assassination orders.
Soon after the social media posts by Ehsanullah Ehsan, both Farhatullah Babar and Afrasiab Khattak had agitated the matter before the human rights committees of the National Assembly and Senate as well as the FIA. However, nothing came out of it.
Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2023
